Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is willing to "become a villain". He has set his sights on the crown and he will stop at almost nothing to achieve this goal. His first victim: his brother George, Duke of Clarence, and the reigning sovereign, King Edward IV. Following the death of the former King Henry VI, Richard also stays tactfully close to the widow of Edward, the Prince of Wales, only to have her murdered later, along with the crown prince. And they are not the last victims of his greed for power, that is, until the women - despite their different political convictions - create a counterforce which is to eliminate Richard and finally put an end to the blood bath. A political thriller which mercilessly reveals the animal-like urgency of human power struggles. Richard is one of the most fascinating figures in world literature: his cold intelligence, rhetorical brilliance and virtuoso art of adaptation, manipulation and corruption set him completely apart from all others. However, at the same time, he remains a romantic utopian: because he was denied love, he renounces philanthropy and decides to create a new society on the ruins of the old order.